Wood Properties and Their Variations within the Tree Stem of Lesser-used Species of Tropical Hardwood from Ghana

Due to increasing demand for traditional market species of timber, which are dwindling in quantities and quality within the Ghanaian forest, there is the need to introduce lesser-used species (LUS) to serve as substitutes. The success of LUS in the marketplace requires technical information that relates to utilization about the species. This paper examines physical and mechanical properties of wood and their variations within the tree stem of Petersianthus macrocarpu.r, a potential LUS from Ghana. There was an overall increase of wood's physical and mechanical properties from the breast height to the top of the tree. Specific gravity correlates positively with all the wood's properties, making it a good indicator for selection of the wood for use. The wood of Petersianthus macrocarpus is dense (specific gravity of 0.69) with moderately high shrinkage values (radial shrinkage of 4.0% and tangential shrinkage of 6.9%).